IDS Case Study: Case Western Reserve University

"Over a decade ago, Dr. Claudia Coulton, the Lillian F. Harris Professor of Urban Research & Social Change at Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School of Applied Social Science, started the integrated data system to examine the benefits and limitations of Cuyahoga County’s Invest in Children initiative. Since its founding, Coulton and her affiliates in the Mandel School’s Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development have been deeply engaged with developing and maintaining the Center’s integrated data system (IDS). Currently, Coulton and her colleague, Dr. Robert L. Fischer, a research associate professor in the Mandel School, co-direct the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development and manage its integrated data system. The integrated data system is now known as the ChildHood Integrated Longitudinal Data system (CHILD). It covers children up to 18 years of age living in Cuyaghoga County beginning with the 1992 birth cohort. Data from numerous agencies are linked at the individual level. Data sources include birth certificates, publically subsidized child care, home visiting and early intervention, child abuse and neglect investigations, child welfare placements, juvenile justice filings, TANF, SNAP, Medicaid participation, and public school student records. Additional data sources are added as new agencies begin to work with the Center and become interested in seeing their data linked in order to address cross-sector policy issues and program needs."